Print advertisements for Free Basics in India, from 2015. Images shared widely on social media.

In 2015, Facebook rolled out a plan to help bridge the digital divide in developing countries with a mobile app called “Free Basics”.

The Free Basics program aims to bridge the digital divide by creating an “on ramp” to the Internet through a closed, mobile platform that gives users free access to a handful of online services, such as Accu Weather, BBC News and Wikipedia.

Now active in 63 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, Free Basics has become a part of Facebook's ascent to becoming the most popular and powerful social platform on earth. Thirteen years after going live, Facebook now has two billion monthly active users, more people than the total population of China. And the company has worked especially hard over the past two years to make its products popular and easy to use in developing countries. Free Basics is an important piece of this strategy.

On their promotional website for the app, Facebook rationalizes that “[by] introducing people to the benefits of the internet” they will help justify the cost of mobile data and thereby “bring more people online and help improve their lives.”

So how well does the app serve local interests and needs?

In spring 2017, a group of Global Voices tech and digital rights experts in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan and the Philippines set out to answer this question. We conducted a series of case studies in these countries where we used the app and tested it against usability and open internet benchmarks that we developed in consultation with experts from the ICT and internet policy world. Read the full report.

With this research, we aim to increase public awareness, as well as digital rights and Information Communication Technology sector knowledge about the utility of Free Basics in the countries where it has been deployed.

Our key findings:

Free Basics might not speak your language: Free Basics does not meet the linguistic needs of target users. No version of the program tested in our study adequately served the linguistic needs of the local population. In heavily multilingual countries including Pakistan and Philippines, the app is offered in only one local language.

Free Basics features little local content, but plenty of corporate services from the US and UK. Free Basics includes a relatively small amount of content relevant to local issues and needs, lacking public service sites and independent news sources. It also does not include an email platform.

Free Basics doesn't connect you to the global internet – but it does collect your data: Facebook collects unique streams of user metadata from all user activities on Free Basics, not just the activities of users who are logged into Facebook. The company collects information about which third-party sites Free Basics users access, when, and for how long.

Free Basics violates net neutrality principles: Free Basics does not allow users to browse the open Internet. It offers access to a small set of services and prioritizes the Facebook app by actively urging users to sign-up for and log into the service. Free Basics also divides third-party services into two tiers, giving greater visibility to one set of information over another.

Some internet is better than none — but not on Facebook's terms: Global Voices research findings suggest that most of the content offered via Free Basics will not meet the most pressing needs of those who are not online, and that the data and content limitations built into Free Basics are largely artificial and primarily aimed at collecting profitable data from users.

About the research

We measured Free Basics against collectively-developed benchmarks of usability, quality of connection, language and accessibility, content, and privacy/data policies. Each researcher used and evaluated the app in their home country, and wrote a brief case study summarizing their findings.

Our full research report reflects our collective findings and analysis. Appendices to the report include our methodology, a selective list of third-party services provided by Free Basics and a collection of screenshots of each version of the app. We encourage curious readers and researchers to explore all of these materials and consider using them to conduct their own research or analysis.

Research Team

Kofi Yeboah is a Ghanaian blogger and communications strategist with a deep interest in internet freedom. Kofi is an active contributor with Global Voices and served as the research coordinator for the Free Basics in Real Life project.

Monica Paola Bonilla is a linguist who has collaborated Global Voices since 2015. She has worked on projects of language documentation and localization of software to native languages spoken in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador and Peru. Her areas of interest are applied linguistics, digital literacy, digital inclusion, free software, computer science and native languages. She serves as the Mozilla Rep for Colombia, leads Mozilla Nativo Club and works for an open and accessible web for all people.

Mahnoor Jalil is an intern at Mindmap Communications. She works with Karachi Youth Productions, and has participated in more than twelve Model UN Conferences. She is looking forward to beginning her Bachelor's degree in Media later this year.

Faisal Kapadia is a writer, blogger and co-founder of Mindmap Communications, a digital media agency in Pakistan and the UAE. An author with Global Voices since 2007, co-produced a podcast that Google Pakistan named best of Pakistan in 2010. He currently writes a weekly column in the Daily Times. Faisal has a Bachelor's in Management Information Systems and is an experienced trainer in digital media and content.

Mong Palatino is the Southeast Asia editor of Global Voices. He is also an activist based in Manila, Philippines.

Giovanna Salazar is an internet researcher who focuses on information controls and digital activism in Latin America. She holds a Masters in Media Studies from the University of Amsterdam and serves as the Advocacy and Communications Officer at SonTusDatos.org, a Mexican NGO focused on privacy and data protection online. She is also a regular contributor for Global Voices’ Advox and Latin America teams.

Njeri Wangari Wanjohi‘s work lies at the intersection of the arts, technology and media. As one of Kenya’s blogging pioneers, she has run kenyanpoet.com for over ten years and is one of the founding directors of Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE). She is also a published poet and author of Mines & Mind Fields: My Spoken Words. With a background in ICTs specializing in systems support, in 2014 Njeri founded AfroMum, a leading online publication for women in Africa, to focus on family, technology, and other issues affecting women. She is a contributing author with Global Voices, Mail & Guardian Africa, Kenya Monitor and The Nairobi Garage Newsletter. Njeri is currently the Marketing Manager at GeoPoll, a mobile survey platform.

Another effort is Facebook's Internet.org project, which the Silicon Valley company describes as an initiative to bring internet access and the benefits of connectivity to the portion of the world that doesn‘t have them. The flagship product of Internet.org is a mobile app called Free Basics, which gives users access to Facebook and a handful of online services, such as Accu Weather, BBC News and Wikipedia free of charge.

On the Internet.org website, Facebook explains that the app is intended to help people justify the cost of mobile data:

“By introducing people to the benefits of the internet through these websites, we hope to bring more people online and help improve their lives.”

In an effort to better understand the impact of the Free Basics app and its role within the broader spectrum of global internet access development initiatives, a group of Global Voices contributors tested the Free Basics app in six countries across the globe this spring. We conducted a case studies in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan and the Philippines, along with a review of research, criticism and public documentation about the app's use and utility. [Learn more our research]

Free Basics is available in 63 countries, 26 of which are in Africa. Facebook partners with mobile telecommunication operators who provide this extra data that allows subscribers to access the Free Basics app.

When using Free Basics via Tigo in Ghana, the main screen of the app looks like this:

Main screen of Free Basics in Ghana, via Tigo. Screenshot by Kofi Yeboah

The app features the following sites:

Facebook

Facebook Messenger

Facts for Life

OLX

Tonaton Ghana

Baby Center

Disney Story Central

Jobberman Ghana

Ghanaweb

BBC News

Africa.com

GhanaNews

Wikipedia

Bing

ESPN FC

Super Sports

Accuweather

Most of the featured sites are based in the US or Europe. The only local and local versions of services featured on the main screen include the e-commerce site Tonaton Ghana, the job search site Jobberman Ghana, Super Sports, and the news sites Ghana Web and Ghana News, both of which tend to feature repackaged stories that have already been reported elsewhere.

The Bing search engine is also available in Ghana, and on most other versions that we tested. Of course, it has limited utility, given that nearly all links that appear in search results are inaccessible for the user. When a user tries to select a link from Bing search results, they are met with a notification that reads “Data Charges Apply.” If the user does not have a data plan, they are unable to access the selected website.

A larger set of apps, ranging from learning apps to sports and entertainment sites, can be found on a separate page a few clicks beyond the main screen. Nearly all of these sites are based outside of Ghana, and many of them outside of Africa.

When using the websites that are available on the Free Basics app, subscribers do not get full use of these websites. For example, if a user wants to use the Facebook app within Free Basics, they will not be able to access pictures or watch videos on the app.

If a user encounters a video or image on a news site, these too are often removed from the screen, as demonstrated in the image above. Users are notified by the app that they must pay data charges if they want to view a picture or watch a video on the Free Basics app.

The Free Basics app provides its users limited access to websites and other important apps. It does not offer access to any government or public service websites, nor does not offer services from Facebook's main competitors. For instance, Free Basics has no Twitter app. It also does not include an email app.

Free Facebook ad, by Airtel.

Since its inception, Free Basics has raised lots of concern about net neutrality, an industry term used to indicate that anyone from anywhere around the world should be equally able to access or provide services and content on the internet. In short, it means that in a truly open internet, all content is treated equally.

The corporate interests at stake in the Free Basics program are difficult to ignore. Apart from the interests of Facebook and the handful of sites and services offered on the app, telecommunications operators also benefit from Free Basics.

Previous reports by BuzzFeed News told us that telecommunications operators — not Facebook — are covering the actual cost of providing users with mobile data that allows them to access the Free Basics app. Local advertising campaigns and even comments from telco employees indicate that Free Basics has served as a way to drive new subscribers to their network by enticing potential subscribers with the promise of enjoying free access to Facebook.

John-Paul Iwuoha, an author and impact investor has advised African governments to in his article published on the Huffington Post titled “Dear Mr. Zuckerberg: Thanks for ‘Free Basics’ in Africa, But We’re Not Totally Convinced.” As Iwuoha put it:

While Mr. Zuckerberg firmly believes that restrictive editions of the internet like Free Basics and the principles of net neutrality can co-exist, I have banged my head against the wall several times to imagine how that would happen.

Africa’s history is littered with governments and “gatekeepers” who seek to censor and control access to information, monopolize public conversations, and regulate communication and expression. The open internet is helping to break that stranglehold, and the outcomes could change everything (or most things) for the continent. Therefore, it’s in Africa’s best interests to hold on to the principles of net neutrality to avoid a return to the “dark days.”

Facebook says it doesn’t handpick the services on Free Basics anymore, and now admits any service or website that meets its “criteria.” This sounds comforting, but we must not lose our guard as long as Facebook — a profit-driven, U.S.-based company — retains gate-keeper powers over millions of Africans who will likely come online as a result of Free Basics.

[…]

Facebook’s actions and strategic business investments in Africa need to reflect its vision of bringing internet access to all Africans. Not just a slice of the internet, but all of it.

If indeed, if Facebook wanted to improve the knowledge of people across the globe, especially in developing countries, they would open their platform to include more languages, enable key features like pictures and videos — a great and dynamic medium for sharing and improving knowledge — and allow users to access more information from across the web.

This post reflects the position and findings of Kofi Yeboah as an independent writer and researcher. It does not reflect the views of his employer.

]]>https://globalvoices.org/2017/07/27/is-free-basics-really-bringing-more-africans-online-a-case-study-from-ghana/feed/0Ghana's Social Media Scene Opens New Spaces for Public Debatehttps://globalvoices.org/2017/07/24/ghanas-social-media-scene-opens-new-spaces-for-public-debate/
https://globalvoices.org/2017/07/24/ghanas-social-media-scene-opens-new-spaces-for-public-debate/#commentsMon, 24 Jul 2017 13:22:56 +0000https://globalvoices.org/?p=622124Everyone is trying to leverage digital to reach new audiences.

Digital media has become really popular in Ghana. Photo By SandisterTei available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license

During the 2016 Ghanaian presidential elections, amidst the intense jockeying for power, something else was asserting itself. Social media and online platforms became crucial avenues for the electorate. Engaging voters in digital spaces became as important as speaking at a public rally.

It's not just politicians who have awakened to its power. Civil society also are taking advantage of the rise of social platforms, leveraging the popularity of the medium to demand good public services, like access to constant electricity.

Civil society organisation Odekro is harnessing technology to increase transparency in the legislative process. They are working to create a national platform whereby the public can access bills, motions, and parliamentary debates. In 2016, Odekro published online a report on the performance of members of parliament in Ghana to help citizens know how their MPs are faring in representing them in parliament. They used the hashtag #GhParliament to engage online users about their work.

Another think tank in the West African nation has been instrumental in ensuring that citizens are able to use social media to seek accountability from government. Imani Africa helped lead one of the largest protests by middle class citizens in Ghana, demanding better access to electricity, which started with the hashtag #OccupyFlagStaffHouse in 2014. Prior to this movement, citizens in Ghana typically had access to electricity for only 12 hours at that time, but now, Ghanaians have consistent and regular access to electricity.

Imani Africa has risen in prominence ever since. The organisation has carved a niche in Ghana’s policy environment, putting out objective, independent analysis and critique on many issues, such as advocating the privatisation of the electricity company of Ghana to ensure constant supply of electricity to Ghanaians.

Founding president of Imani Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, spoke about how the country's citizens are using social media to question acts of corruption and improper accountability:

One bemusing media revelation that was recently made was how the Ghana Minerals Commission reported that Ghana’s total gold receipts for 2016 from all its trading partners was $1.7bn when the Embassy of Switzerland reported that Switzerland alone purchased $2bn worth of gold from Ghana for the same year. Some social media commentators latched onto this confounding story and concluded that this was one of the grand schemes by former government officials to illicitly transfer funds into safer havens. They may be wrong, but the deafening silence from the minerals commission was not helpful.

Today, Ghanaians on social media are quick to make permutations of what number of public schools, hospitals, roads and sanitised water systems could have been constructed had certain amounts of public money not been diverted into private pockets or lavishly spent on the growing number of government appointees. And yes, we also troll our public officials and public figures when they make mistakes. And in this era of fake news on social media, its gotten even merrier.

Swiss President Doris Leuthard also attended the event and spoke at the forum. She gave an example of how her government has created accessible online platforms to enable citizens to identify damaged infrastructure and inform government authorities to fix them:

In Ghana, out of a population of more than 7 million people, 28.4% have access to the internet, mostly through mobile data plans. Although this puts Ghana ahead of most countries in the region, it still trails behind countries including Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. Ghana's high mobile penetration rate of 128% (a reflection of many citizens having multiple phone plans) may help pave the way for more Ghanaians to gain internet access and join civic conversations on social media.

]]>https://globalvoices.org/2017/07/24/ghanas-social-media-scene-opens-new-spaces-for-public-debate/feed/2Some of Ghana's Media Houses Are Social Media Stars, While Others Take a Passhttps://globalvoices.org/2017/04/14/some-of-ghanas-media-houses-are-social-media-stars-while-others-take-a-pass/
https://globalvoices.org/2017/04/14/some-of-ghanas-media-houses-are-social-media-stars-while-others-take-a-pass/#respondFri, 14 Apr 2017 00:43:14 +0000https://globalvoices.org/?p=611103

A screenshot of a figure showing 10 most followed radio stations on Facebook.

Penplusbytes has released its 1st Quarter Social Media Index report for 2017, which reviews the outlook and performance of newspapers, radio and TV stations in Ghana based on their presence, followers and likes on Facebook and Twitter.

To compile the index, the organisation says it conducts a survey of 60 newspapers, 350 registered radio stations and 34 TV stations. The report shows that Facebook is the most popular social media platform among media houses in Ghana than Twitter.

Penplusbytes is a non-profit organisation promoting effective governance using technology in Africa. The organisation released its first Social Media Index report on Ghana’s print, radio and television media houses in 2016.

Facebook

The report reveals that only 68 (19.4%) of the 350 radio stations own and run Facebook accounts. Joy FM, one of Ghana's most influential media houses, is the most followed Ghanaian radio station on Facebook with over 1,008,733 likes, followed by Citi FM with 999,388 likes.

Twenty-three (67%) TV stations out of 34 have Facebook accounts, with U TV Ghana leading with 706,095 likes.

The report shows that 19 (31%) out of 60 newspapers in Ghana are on Facebook. However, some of these pages show no updates or interaction in as long as three years. The Daily Graphic, the most read newspaper in Ghana, leads with 846,449 followers, followed by 90 Minutes Sports in second with 131,778 page likes.

Twitter

The study found about 55 (16%) Ghanaian radio stations with Twitter handles. Joy FM leads on Twitter with 640,984 followers, followed by Citi FM with 541,150 followers.

There are 20 (57%) TV stations on Twitter. GH One TV station leads on Twitter with 289,567 followers, then Viasat 1 (Kwese) TV with 140,353 followers.

Only 13 (21.7%) out of 60 newspapers are on Twitter. The Daily Guide newspaper has 13,596 followers while The Daily Graphic comes second with 11,497 followers.

This report reveals notably impressive performances by media entities such as Joy FM, Citi FM, Starr FM and ATL FM who, without any surprise, have some of their accounts verified. They represent a small percentage of best managed pages that are easily identified as official on social media with up-to-the-minute post updates and interaction with audience.

The reverse of this is also the general lack interest by many other news media with poorly managed handles that are difficult to identify as official accounts. Most of these traditional media have multiple pages created in their names with some appearing to have been last updated as far back as 2013 as found with a 2nd Ghanaian Times newspaper page on Twitter (@GhanaianTimes).

A 310-megawatt wind farm sprouting up in a remote, barren landscape near Lake Turkana in northern Kenya has the clean energy world buzzing — and for good reason.

Africa’s largest wind farm, with 365 towering turbines, is creating more than 500 stable jobs in an impoverished area where goat herding is often the only work available. It will boost Kenya’s electric grid capacity by about 15 percent, at a far lower cost than the imported oil the local utility now uses. And when it begins producing juice next year, it will signal to investors and companies that big clean energy projects like this are viable in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The impact we’re having makes me feel quite proud, frankly,” says Phylip Leferink, general manager of Lake Turkana Wind Power, who was all smiles when I met with him because the 142nd turbine had just been installed.

Megaprojects like these are deeply important for solving sub-Saharan Africa’s colossal energy access challenges at the pace governments there want. But they are not the complete answer. They are often expensive, take years to build and can’t reach everyone. In fact, the US$700 million Turkana project has been in the works for nearly a decade and the exact timeline for finishing the key 270-mile (435-kilometer) transmission line is still in question. Moreover, all of the electricity is going to southern Kenya; none will end up in the power-starved north, where high-polluting kerosene and charcoal are used for cooking meals and getting light.

So what is the best path to get electricity — preferably, modern green electricity — to the more than 1 million people in northern Kenya and 620 million people in all of sub-Saharan Africa living in the dark?

I recently spent 12 days traveling in Ghana and Kenya trying to find the answer. I was most interested in understanding the extent to which large, grid-scale renewable projects like the Turkana project can meet the region’s vast demand for power and whether more attention should be focused on off-grid renewables and other decentralized green energy efforts, which are smaller and not linked to the electric grid. The extent to which the countries can grow their economies with renewable energy — instead of costlier fossil fuels, a huge contributor to climate change — was another key question.

One thing is clear, according to government leaders and non-governmental organization experts: Plummeting costs for off-grid renewables — over 80 percent since 2010 for solar photovoltaics — are a game changer. Look no further than the remarkable rise of M-KOPA Solar, a Kenyan company that has seized on Africa’s mobile phone/mobile money phenomena (more than 90 percent of Kenyans use mobile phones and more than 70 percent are mobile money customers) to bring off-grid household solar to 425,000 customers across East Africa.

A recent study from the public-private collective Power for All, which aims to accelerate rural clean energy globally, shows these off-grid technologies can be installed in half the time and at one-tenth the cost of large utility-scale projects. Yet despite this vast potential, off-grid power is being impeded by a lack of access to capital, particularly from the World Bank and multilateral development banks, which have long been predisposed to funding big-ticket projects.

Kenya: Leader in Renewables

Kenya is widely seen as a leader in Africa in pursuing renewables — both grid and off-grid projects — to tackle the energy access challenge. Three years ago, fewer than 30 percent of Kenyans were getting electricity from the country’s meager 2,000-MW power grid, which was powered primarily by fossil fuels. (The US region of New England’s population is less than one-third of Kenya’s, yet its grid is about 31,000 MW.) To attract power plant developers, the government adopted policies like risk-protection guarantees, standardized power purchase agreements and feed-in tariffs — all of which help ensure satisfactory payments for power that is produced. The government is especially eager to tap the country’s bountiful clean energy resources such as geothermal. A 280-MW geothermal power plant came on line in December in the Great Rift Valley, where the continent is gradually tearing apart and so providing easy access to hot water and steam below the surface, and several more geothermal projects are in the works. A new 55-MW solar plant was also announced in late September.

An M-KOPA sales rep talks about the company’s solar product with villagers in the Bandani neighborhood in Kisumu in western Kenya. Photo by Peyton Fleming and used with permission.

Government officials are pleased with the progress. “In just three years, we’ve doubled connected customers to the grid,” Kenya’s top energy secretary, Charles Keter, told the off-grid renewable energy conference audience. But he concedes Kenya will never achieve its universal energy access goal by 2020 without off-grid renewables. “In areas far from the grid, such as northern Kenya, we have to find other solutions in the near future.”

Companies like M-KOPA, Off-Grid Electric and Mobisol are already stepping in — all using pay-as-you-go business models to deliver off-grid solar services to millions of rural customers.

With a US$30 deposit and daily 50-cent payments, all via the ubiquitous M-PESA mobile money transfer system, M-KOPA’s customers get a solar panel, a couple of lights, a cellphone charger and a solar-powered radio. After a year of payments, customers own the system. Customers also develop a credit history enabling them to finance larger solar equipment that can run bigger appliances such as televisions and, M-KOPA hopes soon, small refrigerators.

As I walked with two sales representatives through Bandani, a poor neighborhood of mud huts, dirt roads and charcoal stoves in Kisumu in western Kenya, half a dozen people ask for M-KOPA brochures. Several others were already using the service. One of those customers, Consonlata Andhiambo Odero, lives in Bandani with four children in a tiny shack and runs a shop selling charcoal, eggs and bread. Discouraged by the constant power outages, she bought an M-KOPA system a month ago. Now she has two lamps for her shop and pollution-free light so her kids can read at night. “I’m very much excited,” she says with a big smile.

In just five years, M-KOPA has hired about 1,000 workers who are pitching and servicing customers in three East African countries. The company’s model is also being expanded to West Africa. But despite the company’s growth, a number of Africans can’t even afford the up-front costs. “The [US$30] deposit, that’s the biggest block,” said Edwin Amollo, a field sales manager for the company in Kisumu.

Ghana: Catching Up

About 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) to the west, Ghana is adopting many of Kenya’s strategies in expanding energy access. It lags a few years behind, especially when it comes to renewable energy. But the country is working to catch up.

Consonlata Andhiambo Odero, who lives in western Kenya and is seen here with an M-KOPA sales rep, is all smiles as she shows off new M-KOPA solar panels that are powering solar-powered lamps so her kids can read at night. Photo by Peyton Fleming and used with permission.

Ghana’s government is expanding its electric grid with new power plants, using feed-in tariffs, competitive bidding and power purchase agreements to attract outside developers and investors. The biggest ones so far have been natural gas plants, which are being fueled by the country’s first offshore natural gas field developed last year. Solar projects are also being added to the grid, but they’re smaller — including a 20-MW solar photovoltaic project that went on line in April and a second 20-MW project awarded to a South African firm in September. Several more renewable energy projects are in the works up north, including a US$4.5 million solar installation for an agriculture venture in Yagaba Basin.

Meanwhile, off-grid solar provider PEG-Ghana launched two years ago using M-KOPA’s business model: It targets regions where people have no electricity or are dissatisfied with constant power outages — known locally as dumsors — and where mobile money is in common use.

“The reason we invested [in Ghana] was nobody was tackling West Africa at all,” said Lauren Cochran, director of private investments at the Blue Haven Initiative, a Massachusetts-based investor that helped PEG-Ghana raise US$7.5 million this year to expand its business in West Africa.

Forsaking northern Ghana — “It’s too poor,” says PEG-Ghana country manager Simone Vaccari — the company has set up 29 service centers in southern Ghana that have signed up 14,500 customers to date. Sales are growing 20 percent a month, and PEG-Ghana plans to expand to the Ivory Coast soon. “We’re in a good space,” says Vaccari, who hopes to have 100,000 customers across West Africa by 2018.

Expanding commercially viable clean energy mini-grids — small-scale, off-grid networks that supply power for individual villages or businesses — is a clear priority in Kenya and Ghana, both at the government and private sector levels.

Officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Ghana office say there’s a lot of interest and potential with grid and off-grid solar, and they credit the government for setting renewable energy goals and enacting policies to encourage foreign investment. But it remains to be seen if the country can replicate Kenya’s success with renewables.

Expanding Decentralized Mini-Grids

There is another huge hole that Kenya, Ghana and other sub-Saharan Africa countries must fill to achieve their ambitious energy access and clean energy goals. While household solar systems like M-KOPA’s show promise, what about businesses, manufacturers and entire villages looking for bigger renewable systems instead of relying on a spotty or nonexistent power grid? (Due to Kenya’s unreliable grid, more than half of the country’s businesses operate their own diesel-powered generators.) And what about food suppliers who lack refrigeration due to power outages and no electricity at all?

Expanding commercially viable clean energy mini-grids — small-scale, off-grid networks that supply power for individual villages or businesses — is a clear priority in Kenya and Ghana, both at the government and private-sector levels. And, again, Kenya’s efforts are further along. This summer, the country’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, announced plans to install 23 solar mini-grids with 9.6 MW of capacity in remote northern Kenya.

Companies such as CrossBoundary Energy are building solar mini-grids for shopping malls, safari lodges and remote hospitals. “In Kenya, 70 percent of electricity consumption is businesses,” says managing partner Matt Tilleard, who is also expanding the business to Rwanda. “That’s our niche.”

In Ghana, Black Star Energy is building solar mini-grids serving seven small communities in the country’s Ashanti region. The company’s first solar-powered mini-grid, in a cocoa farming area, launched last fall. CEO Nicole Poindexter says a key advantage of these systems is that they can run refrigerators, which are critical for solving regional food security challenges. Lack of refrigeration is a big reason why Africa loses enough food annually to feed 300 million people, according to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

A Money and Policy Issue, Not a Tech Issue

For all of their early promise, off-grid renewable solutions are still in their infancy. “We have miles and miles to go. Companies like M-KOPA are doing amazing things, but their market share is still de minimus,” says Christine Eibs Singer, director of global advocacy at Power for All.

So what will it take for off-grid renewable solutions to seriously start filling the region’s energy access gap? It’s less a technology issue than a money issue.

And, of the limited money that exists, very little is going to off-grid renewables, such as household solar and mini grids. From 2011 to 2014, only 11 percent of World Bank energy access funding and 1 percent of African Development Bank funding went to decentralized renewables, according to a recent Power for All report.

This funding gap was a clear sore point for participants at the Nairobi off-grid renewables conference.

“If 5 percent of that money went to our sector, you’d see millions more customers getting power far more quickly,” says Graham Smith, senior director of new markets at Off-Grid Electric, a solar start-up with over 100,000 East African customers that is relying mostly on private investment funds and venture capital to expand its business.

Power for All’s Singer says aligning government policies and key financing institutions behind more balanced grid and off-grid renewable strategies will be critical in bringing green power to Africans more quickly and at less cost.

“For overall economic growth in these countries, you’re going to need new large-scale power, but you can’t see that as the only solution,” she said. “There needs to be more deliberate and conscious integration of both centralized and decentralized solutions.”

For ten years, a U.S. embassy operated quietly in Accra, the capital of the West African country of Ghana. The facility's work was discreet because it was run by a criminal network of Ghanaian and Turkish citizens. The embassy wasn't an embassy at all, but it managed to issue authentic, fraudulently obtained visas and other U.S. documents for a decade.

In early November, U.S. officials reported that the fake embassy had finally been shut down.

According to the U.S. Department of State's website, the offices of the “embassy” in Accra occupied a building that flew the American flag outside and received visitors on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday from 7:30 a.m. to noon. Hanging on the wall inside was a photo of President Barack Obama. There were signs posted inside that gave the office every appearance of an authentic embassy.

At present, Uncle Sam may find on his land a number of people who entered the country fraudulently. That is, in any case, what has come out of the recent discovery made in Ghana by the US Department of State. A fake US embassy issued counterfeit identify documents (birth certificates) and visas. The hitch is that these were in fact authentic documents and were issued by Turkish forgers for an average price of $6,000. The forgers posed as US consular officials and communicated regularly in English and Dutch. To better fool their visitors, the gang had hung a portrait of Barack Obama along with an American flag.

American authorities were tipped off about the scam after launching a massive anti-fraud operation in the region this summer. Detectives were then recruited, including Ghanaian police inspectors, to dismantle the entire criminal network. During the investigation, which led to a number of arrests, the authorities seized Indian, South-African, and Schengen zone visas. 150 passports from ten different countries were discovered, as well as a laptop and some telephones.

The Department of State has not explained how the gang obtained genuine US visas. It also hasn't specified how many people were able to illegally enter the United States and other countries with visas issued by the gang, which distributed the visas under-the-table in order to operate with impunity.

According to investigations, the fake embassy made itself known to the public through leaflets and billboards to attract visa applicants from Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Togo. Among other services, the forgers provided fraudulently obtained, authentic US visas and false identity documents including birth certificates, bank statements, school records, birth certificates and more, all available for the price of $6,000.

How did this gang get ahold of real U.S. visas? How many people were able to illegally enter the United States using these documents?

Reportedly, a fake Netherlands embassy was also operating in the Ghanaian capital. On Radio France Internationale's Facebook page, several listeners expressed their opinions. Christophe Diksina Lissidi of Chad wrote:

If a large number of Ghanaians have used this embassy's services to enter the US, there is likely a cell which has infiltrated its immigration services far and wide.

If this information is correct, Americans are not at all safe. The Chinese are no longer the best counterfeiters out there. What with a fake embassy, fake diplomats, fake passports and who knows what else, Africans have become the kings of the counterfeit.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Junior Decastel-bajack Bangobango said:

It's the biggest scam of all time. How did the US administration get so badly fooled? The ambassador drove a CMD-registered vehicle, diplomats with a CD including the consul, the Counsellor of State, Embassy Secretary, etc. For ten years, they were able to issue real fake visas to Ghanaians? No! The truth needs to come out.

Ninamou Jeanette, originally from Guinea, now living in Belgium, expressed his skepticism:

Following a successful and peaceful election on December 7, Twitter was awash on Sunday, December 11 with messages from Ghanaians saying that they had attended to church to give thanks to God for the smooth outcome or to celebrate with the winning party.

However, a tweet from Ghanaian sports journalist Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) struck a much different note. Gary had published a screenshot of part of an article written by American broadcaster CNN about Ghana's election in which the country was characterized as suffering food shortages. In his tweet to his over 166,000 followers, using the hashtag #CNNGetItRight he said:

Gary was disappointed that the article written by CNN did not give a true picture about the economy of Ghana. In the second paragraph of the article, it read, in reference to President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo:

The national economy will be Akufo-Addo’s major challenge. Oil reserves were discovered off the coast of Ghana in 2007, but Ghanaians struggle to obtain food and day-to-day services. Rolling blackouts are common and citizens often stand in long line to obtain products.

The article misrepresents reality on the ground in Ghana. Ghanaians generally do not struggle for food and day-to-day services, and they have access to enough food and resources. If you were to see food-related queues these days, it might be to buy the local delicacy called “Waakye,” which is a favourite dish made from rice mixed with beans — but the long queue is a sign of the quality of the Waakye, not because there's a critical food shortage.

In the past, there were challenges with access to power due to an energy crisis, but currently, Ghanaians have access to power and do not experience rolling blackouts as depicted by CNN.

Gary's tweet sparked lots of anger from Ghanaians against CNN, and many responded ridiculing CNN for the inaccurate coverage. Other Ghanaian journalists, such as Nana Ama Agyemang (@JustNanaAma) of Citi FM, tweeted:

Such a lazy coverage of a fantastic story by @CNN. No nuance, just the usual template “Africans are suffering.”#CNNGetItRight

Some local media houses also picked up the story. Myjoyonline exposed even more errors in the article, pointing out that it was written by two authors who were neither in Ghana nor Ghanaian:

The errors brought ridicule from Ghanaians, who got even more annoyed when it emerged that the article was written by a Nigerian journalist based in Lagos, Stephanie Busari, and another based in Atlanta, Ralph Ellis.

The article, among other errors, also incorrectly said the people of the country are ‘Ghanians’, instead of ‘Ghanaians’.

In addition, the story even got the final results wrong. It said: “Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party won 5,180,389 to 4,193,861 or about 55% to 45%, reported representatives at the EC National Collation Centre which verified results sheets from 241 constituencies.”

This was inaccurate because the EC's account of 241 constituencies gave Nana Addo 54.69%, and John Mahama 43.60%, so it's surprising the network quoted that number.

Another factual error said that Ghana’s president-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo had contested a general election in 1998, when elections were actually contested in 1996 and 2000.

Other international media houses including the BBC, far-right American website Breitbart and the Russian-government funded broadcaster RT picked up the story.

Efo Dela cynically speculated the decision making that went into the article:

Eventually, CNN, in response to the tweets, corrected the errors in the article and indicated in the editor's note that the previous article did not give a true picture of Ghana's economy. Jemila Abdulai (@Jabdulai), a writer and a blogger, tweeted the screenshot of the corrected article:

All in all, many Ghanaians are happy they were able to put pressure on CNN to correct the poor reportage about the country, but it's unfortunate that it happened in the first place.

Update 18/12/2016: A CNN spokesperson forwarded along the following statement:”This story should never have been published in its original form. CNN’s editorial procedures were not followed, and we have thoroughly reviewed our internal processes to ensure this does not happen again. The article has been corrected and Stephanie Busari’s byline was removed because she was not involved in writing this piece. We apologize for any offence caused.”

In a continent where elections are often marred by violence, rigging, election-day internet shutdowns and other irregularities, the peaceful nature of Ghana's election cemented its position as a beacon of democracy in Africa. The international community has praised the country for the way the elections were managed.

Just recently, Gambia's president Yahya Jammeh, who has been in power for 22 years, rejected the election result, after he was defeated by opposition leader Adam Barrow.

Only days before he spoke out against supposed irregularities, he had accepted his defeat and phoned Barrow to congratulate him on his victory, informing him that he bore “no ill will”. Apparently, he had a change of heart.

Echoing similar sentiments, Kenyan lawyer Chris Mwangi tweeted:

Ghana is consistently one of those African countries that gives the western media nothing negative to report about Africa.#GhanaDecides

Supporters of the President-Elect Nana Akufo-Addo celebrated his victory with the campaign song of the losing candidate John Mahama, ‘Onaapo’. The song has become so popular that Ghanaian musician Barima Sidney has already released a remix of the song.

Mahama conceded defeat and called Akufo-Addo to congratulate him even before the official results were released.

The organisation released its first edition on June 30, which assessed the presence of political party leaders, political parties and election management bodies on Twitter and Facebook, while its September 30 second edition measured how the political parties and their candidates are using social media tools for their benefits ahead of the 2016 elections.

Ghanaians are voting today, December 7, for presidential and parliamentary elections. The main contest in the presidential race is between incumbent President John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and opposition candidate Nana Akufo-Ado of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The third edition of the index shows that Akufo-Ado, the leader of the New Patriotic Party, the largest opposition party in the country, leads the pack of seven presidential candidates on Facebook with 1,253,452 likes, which is an increase of over 200,000 more likes from the last report. President Mahama comes in second with 1,073,088 likes on Facebook, which is an increase of over 60,000 likes from the last report.

This represents a change from the second edition, when President Mahama came out on top of everyone with 1,007,595 likes. Akufo-Addo gained more likes (272,395) as compared to that of President Mahama (65,493) in the last two months.

However, President Mahama leads on Twitter with 303,924 followers, followed by Akufo-Addo with 119,725 followers. The report notes that even though President Mahama comes in first in followers, Akufo-Addo has engaged more with his followers with 5,372 tweets.

the report has shown that social media has become a normal and central form of communication for all segments of the population, particularly, political parties and their leaders who increasingly rely on this new media for constant engagement with their constituents because it provides direct, cheap platform, and a two-way information dissemination in real time about their programs ahead the 2016 Ghana elections.

Ghana goes to the polls for presidential and parliamentary elections on December 7. There are seven presidential candidates; however, the main contest is between incumbent President John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and opposition candidate Nana Akufo-Ado of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

As the day approaches, we have looked at some of the more compelling comments shared on Twitter using the hashtag #GhanaDecides.

On the issue of who will win, blogger Nana Ashanti thought the ruling party, which she does not support, will carry the day. She explained:

At a risk of being lynched and/or insulted, I will say that in my opinion the current NDC will retain power come Dec. 7th. Hear me out:

All my predictions have been wrong this year but if I know Ghanaians well, I can say we rarely mean what we say. I am not a fan of the current NDC government. At all. And I have been critical of them for as long as I can remember. With that said, they do appeal to the silent majority. The so called forgotten, who live in the Upper regions of Ghana. They have been loyal to the ruling party through thick and thin. These folks are the “Louisiana Purchase”. The flyover regions, literally and figuratively.

They are very content people and love their lives the way it is. They do not worry their heads about inflation, the high unemployment rate, corruption, exchange rate, infrastructure or economic development. The real hand-to-mouth people. Time and time again, this silent majority has proven to be the ones to break the tie or decide who the next government is going to be.

HOW WILL THEY SWING THIS YEAR?

These are the folks who wake up early to join long and winding queues to vote for the NDC , whether their palms have been greased or not. They do not spend copious amount of data chanting party slogans on social media.

It’s election season in Ghana too and the made up stories continually flood our digital timelines and news feeds. Just yesterday I saw a story on an NDC man who was arrested with heavy ammunition in the Ashanti Region in November 2016. The article said the police officers were tipped off by “NPP Agents”. Hearing this story around this time of the year would make you tensed up, but here’s the problem;

The picture of the guns in the story above – which were no ordinary guns – was the exact picture I had on my phone back in December 2015. A gang of robbers in Kumasi were arrested last year with those weapons. I googled the story and found other news outlets reporting the same story with the same picture. What was the 2015 picture doing as a cover picture for some other story almost a year after, then? The whole story seemed murky and placed emphasis on the NPP “defending their land and their king”.

Ghana's Inspector General of Police John Kudalor hinted in May 2016 that Ghanaian authorities might consider shutting down social media platforms during the elections to “maintain peace”. He argued that the intention to shut down social media platforms is based on the fact that some people abuse the space during voting. However, Ghanaian President John Mahama declared on the August 14 that “the government has no intention to shut down social media on election day.”

Finally, Chief Austin Arinze Obiefuna, the executive director of Afro Global Alliance Ghana, hoped for free and fair elections as it has always been a tradition in Ghana:

Dec 7 #GhanaDecides continue your already earned beacon of hope for Africa & have a free & fair election to reflect the wish of the people.

Responding to the fact that a majority of the world's population lives areas where mobile Internet access is unaffordable, Facebook launched its “Free Basics” program, in collaboration with local mobile phone operators and telecommunications companies around the world. The project allows users to access select websites and services, if they're using a SIM card from a participating mobile-phone operator.

Launched in August 2013, Free Basics is the result of a collaboration between Facebook and the mobile-technology companies Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Opera Software, Nokia, and Qualcomm, along with local telecommunications providers in areas where the service is provided.

Originally named “Internet.org”, the social media giant changed the name to “Free Basics” after critics complained that the name could lead users to believe that the app gives unbridled access to the Internet, which it does not.

But the app does offer access to useful resources. Facebook allows any web developer to submit their apps for review. If approved, based on technical and other substantive criteria, apps can be included in the package. Olivier Ntanama is a blogger from Bukavu, where he studies in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is also the founder of the Tech in Congo blog, where he lists the “Top 80 Free Websites with Facebook's Free Basics,” a helpful resource for those interested in learning more about the app's offerings.

Thierry Barbaut, an African technology specialist, described the project's impact to Afrique Technologie as a useful educational effort:

This program has a true impact upon human lives through providing free access to health, education, and economic information. SmartBusiness, for example, is a site that teaches its users how to launch and manage a business. It now has five more search services per day, since its launch in South Africa in July. This means that a greater number of people can now access important economic information.

BabyCenter and MAMA reach millions of people worldwide by offering pregnant woman essential health information and providing information on parenting and raising children. Through the medium of Free Basics Internet.org alone, 3.4 million people are receiving information on these topics.

The number of Facebook users on the big island has risen considerably during the recent years. There is something for everyone: from the small-scale seller of second-hand phones to leaders of a political parties to students. A good number of discussions take place in groups created on the social network, from the more enriching discussions to the very futile. Facebook has become an unavoidable communication tool, on both a personal and professional level in equal measures.

Free Basics could also help to create jobs and to fight poverty, thanks to its provision of useful information to the public. In Madagascar, the Authority of Regulation of Communication Technologies (ARTEC) has not publicly declared its stance on the subject. The Minister of Post, Telecommunications and Digital Development attended the launch of the new Madagascan mobile phone operator, Bip. He was clear in his speech that the partnership between the operator and Facebook was a “crucial stage towards a Madagascan society in which connectivity has always been a reality”.

In May 2015, Free Basics was accessible in 47 countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. In Africa, 22 mobile-phone operators were offering the service in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Zambia, Rwanda, and Guinea among others.

According to The Guardian, Facebook has been in talks with U.S. government officials and mobile-phone operators to develop a U.S. version of Free Basics. As in other countries, this version would be adapted for low-income groups and rural areas that are not able to afford either broadband Internet access or Internet access via smartphones.

Despite many users’ appreciation of the service and the fact that it is free to use, there is resistance to Free Basics, which led to the program's closure in India and Egypt.

In May 2015, NGOs working to defend online rights published an open letter addressed to Mark Zuckerberg, denouncing the program for violating the principles of net neutrality, and thereby threatening freedom of expression and equality of opportunity, security, privacy, and innovation. The NGOs accuse Zuckerberg of building a “walled garden,” in which the world's poorest people will only be able to access a limited set of insecure websites and services. The petition has received thousands of signatures from around the world.

Twenty-four creators were announced winners in 22 categories. Creators were required to have a minimum of 50,000 subscribers and be based in one of eight Sub-Saharan African countries to qualify. Participating countries, where YouTube monetisation has been enabled, were Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Senegal.

It all started with a photo. In it, a young boy named Jake Amo is drawing with intense focus during creative studies and art at his school in the village of Asempanaye in Ghana. The class was run by Solomon Adufah, a Ghanaian, who is studying fine arts at the University of Illinois in the United States. The picture was taken in August 2015 by his friend Carlos Cortes, who was documenting Adufah’s journey to Ghana. Adufah shared the photo on his Instagram page in January 2016.

The snapshot then became an Internet sensation in September and October 2016. It is believed that this was after South African Internet users remixed the photo into funny memes such as this and this.

“When they ask you to write down your past job experiences & you're writing you were an admin of Facebook page & whatsApp group”. Screenshot from No chill in Mzansi” Facebook group.

Solomon Adufah has turned the now iconic image of Jake into a crowdfunding initiative to support him and other children like him in Ghana. On its 12th day, the campaign had so far raised over $12,000 from over 500 donors.

Adufah explains his intentions in the campaign's trailer:

Reacting to the story, Ayuba Fowoke, an author at Innovation Village, noted how the popularity of the meme and the resulting crowdfunding campaign are putting a spin on the popular African saying that “it takes a community to educate a child.” Fowoke wrote:

There have been many stories of how crowdsourcing rescued many from challenges. But it is more exciting when a negative and hilarious meme is turned into a good tale like that of Jake. In addition, it is even better if the meme resolves a social problem.

This is what happens when government and local authorities abandon their responsibilities. There are millions of children out of school across Africa while the ones who are in school learn in dilapidated conditions.

[…]

There is no guarantee that many around Africa and the world will stop using Jake’s pictures for memes. However, what is sure is that Jake and his friends at Asempanaye, Koforidua will learn in a more conducive environment and with superior writing materials! Thanks to the pensive, and morose looking Jake, Solomon Adufah and Carlos Cortes.

Tweeting about Jake, Olwethu Mthathi summed up his impact:

Jake Amo is a legend, an icon of the African meme & social media generation #JakeAmo

Generally, the report shows that political actors in Ghana have increased their use of social media ahead of the 2016 general elections.

The flurry of politically minded social media activity hadn't gone unnoticed, even before Penplusbytes's report. Ghana's Inspector General of Police John Kudalor hinted in May 2016 that Ghanaian authorities might consider shutting down social media platforms during the December 7 elections to “maintain peace”.

Following a public debate among major stakeholders after his statement, Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama declared on August 14 that “the government has no intention to shut down social media on election day.”

Penplusbytes is a non-profit organisation promoting effective governance using technology in Africa. The organisation aims at driving change through innovations in three key areas: using new digital technologies to enable good governance and accountability, new media and innovations, and driving oversight for effective utilisation of mining, oil and gas revenue and resources.

The Governance Social Media Index tracks the relevance and effective use of social media in governance. The first index report was published in June 2016.

The second edition of the GSMI was compiled on September 30 after the disqualification of 13 presidential candidates from the 2016 general elections by the Electoral Commission of Ghana. These candidates were included in the report because they were part of the first GSMI.

The report shows that President Mahama is ahead of other presidential candidates on Facebook with 1,007,595 likes — 125,171 more than his June figure of 880,620. Nana Akufo-Addo, the leader of the largest opposition party, New Patriotic Party, comes in at 981,057 likes on Facebook, which represents an increase of 265,341.

When it comes to Twitter, the report shows that Akufo Addo has taken better advantage of the platform to communicate and interact with his followers, as evidenced in his over 4,000 tweets as compared with President Mahama’s 842 tweets.

In terms of political parties, the New Patriotic Party continues to lead with a whopping 307,963 likes on Facebook. Then comes the Progressive People's Party with 33,193 followers, which beats out the ruling National Democratic Congress, who have 24,743 likes on Facebook.

Ghana is a relatively peaceful African country, especially when it comes to election season. Politicians here have found a way to transfer power peacefully. Ghanaians are also known for their light hand with tough socio-political issues, finding fun in matters most others might not.

Most recently, critics of leading opposition presidential candidate Nana Akuffo Addo ridiculed him by spreading a photo of him sipping juice from a box of Kalyppo—a beverage popular among schoolchildren.

The mudslinging effort would backfire, however, with Addo's supporters turning it into a viral challenge: the #KalypoChallenge (spelled with one less “p” than the actual brand name), wherein Internet users must photograph themselves with boxes of Kalyppo juice and other locally made products.

Umaru Sanda, a journalist with the local radio station CitiFM, recently marveled at how Addo's supporters have managed to exploit the juice-box photo:

Always love it when people turn their “misfortune” into a great success. That's what the #NPP has done with this #KalypoChallenge. Maturity

The online challenge is inspiring some especially creative adaptations, too. Mainprince Essuman shared the following spin on the juice-box selfie:

The online challenge has attracted a lot of people including one of Ghana's famous musicians, A Plus. He posted a picture of him holding the Kalyppo fruit juice while chewing meat:

One of the most popular responses to the KalypoChallenge features a young man performing a local gospel song using the word Kalyppo in the lyrics:

The makers of Kalyppo juice thanked Ghanaians for their support on their Facebook page:

Some bloggers used the occasion to educate social media managers on how to create social media campaigns like the #KalypoChallenge. In his blog post, JB Klutse noted:

Therefore as social media marketers/strategists, we must strive to find and support major cause behind the campaigns we run. Finding a good cause to support with your product will go a long way to compel your audience to engage with it. E.g. A cause to help small businesses with your products, cause to promote peace as election approaches.

Blogger Ameyaw Debrah noted how Addo's supporters managed to flip this meme on its head:

Kalypo fruit drink must be the hottestcommodity on the market right about now! Ghana’s Social media landscape was swamped with photos of people sharing photos of their Kalypo moments after the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Nana Akufo Addo was pictured sipping his Kalypo. Even though many believe that the photo was initially released to mock the NPP leader, his followers have succeeded in pushing the argument that the former Attorney Generalwas promoting local products with that simple sip.

Jemila Abdulai, one Ghana's leading women bloggers, underscored the need to promote products made in Ghana using social media: